Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Khalil Gibran Philosopher

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: Lebanon
  • Born: Jan 6, 1883
  • Died: Apr 10, 1931

Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer.

Born in the town of Bsharri in the north of modern-day Lebanon, as a young man he immigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career, writing in both English and Arabic. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.

He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.

Let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. friendship

If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work. business, love & work

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them. experience

To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice. life

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. sympathy & truth

Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth. truth

I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art. art & knowledge

Love is trembling happiness. happiness & love

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were. love

Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. dreams & trust

Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love. beauty, inspirational, love & truth

Knowledge cultivates your seeds and does not sow in your seeds. knowledge

Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes. equality & love

Love and doubt have never been on speaking terms. love

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit. life & politics

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. nature

I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires. dreams

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. beauty

Love... it surrounds every being and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be. love

Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself. wisdom

Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof. faith & knowledge

Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed. art

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. life & love

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. faith

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. knowledge

Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak, arid desert. truth

Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people. death

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all. life & religion

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls the most massive characters are seared with scars. strength

The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold. dreams & men

Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we consider it false and despise its adherents. wisdom

Love possesses not nor will it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love. love

March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path. fear & life

Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer's hand. beauty, life & truth

Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream. dreams

Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love love recompenses the adorers. love

Sadness is but a wall between two gardens. sad

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. knowledge & wisdom

Pain and foolishness lead to great bliss and complete knowledge, for Eternal Wisdom created nothing under the sun in vain. great, knowledge & wisdom

If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved. death

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. friendship

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness. happiness, life & truth

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. teacher & wisdom

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children. wisdom

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' truth

Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. fear

Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. love

I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end. time

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. love

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. poetry

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking. faith

And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. love

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. death & life

The just is close to the people's heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God. God

Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge. knowledge

Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper. truth